According to Akhmediev their work uses lasers to replicate waves of extreme amplitude, also known as freak or rogue waves, and shows these waves are more common than thought.

Freak waves are steep waves that can appear to come out of nowhere. They can be hundreds of metres long and can be two to three times higher than the surrounding waves at the time.

At one time they were considered to be a myth, however in 2001 satellites captured more than 10 giant waves more than 25 metres high during three weeks of data collection.

While rogue waves, have been studied for the past decade, this latest study demonstrates a new mechanism for creating the waves in a laboratory setting.

"A crucial factor in the appearance of extreme events, whether in nature, or a laser in the laboratory, is the existence of energy, or a background excitation in the system. This is a basic feature of so-called dissipative systems," says Akhmediev.

Accumulate energy

In ocean systems rogue waves draw and accumulate their energy from smaller waves.

He says optical lasers are a classic example of a dissipative system and similar extreme events can also be created within laser systems by replicating the "chaotic processes" in the sea.

This is done by varying the amplitude, intervals and length, of the laser pulses. Measuring equipment then recorded the peak pulses - the laser system's equivalent of a rogue wave.

"What we've found is ... that extreme events happen much more often than people expect," he says.

Akhmediev says the research has also helped pinpoint features that indicate a rogue wave is building.

By creating systems that can detect these "features" it would be possible to develop an early warning system for ships to alert them that a rogue wave was on the horizon.

While the system has so far only been used to analyse rogue waves, Akhmediev believes it can also help in better understanding other extreme events such as bushfire, floods and cyclones.

"We are trying to expand this knowledge to look at other systems," says Akhmediev.